The little things (Or: B2 Dutch course #21)

Last week Monday we had a short test (one page, front and back) covering chapter 3, or landscape. Sometimes it’s the little things that help – even if you feel like a nerd for studying.

And what can I say – I accidentally managed to frame the image pretty well, with the book above and the pencil to the left.

The main thing that we learned last night was the the various functions of zullen (to “will”) and zouden (the past tense of the same verb). Zullen is a auxiliary/helper verb used for the future tense. However, it is not as simple as translating it as “going to”, because the Dutch tend to either use gaan (to go) or the simple present tense when talking about the future. Ik ga morgen naar het strand. I go to the beach tomorrow. Morgen kom ik thuis. Tomorrow I come home.

Four functions of zullen:

1. to make a proposal. Zullen we naar het strand gaan? Should we go to the beach?

2. to promise to do something (sometimes with the word wel). Ik zal morgen koken. I will cook tomorrow.